A new press release from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office is giving us insight into how the jurors in the George Zimmerman trial spent their 22 days in sequestration.
And from the look of things, it wasn’t all bad.
Despite concerns that the jurors wouldn’t be able to contact their family and friends, the release states that they were allotted time with their loved ones on the weekends, though each visitor had to sign an agreement indicating that they would not speak about the case with the juror.
Jurors were provided meals – breakfast, lunch and dinner – and were able to eat out for dinner twice during the trial, once at an Outback Steak house and another time at Amigos.
But what was most surprising were the extracurricular activities. According to the document:
Jurors also enjoyed several evening and weekend excursions to include bowling, shopping at the Volusia Mall, a day and dinner in St. Augustine (to include a visit to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum), manicures and pedicures, and watching fireworks on the fourth of July. Jurors also went to the movies to see “World War Z” and “The Lone Ranger.” All movies viewed were preapproved by the court. Jurors were provided access to the hotel’s laundry service or could send laundry home with family members.
But they were still monitored closely when using the phone, internet or watching television. Which means they were basically cut off from the rest of the world for the duration of the trial.
In all, the sequestration costs amounted to $33,000 – the hotel cost was approximately $1,000 daily, and meals were approximately $375 per day. The excursion expenses were approximately $350.
And the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, who was responsible for the sequestration, spent approximately $320,000 on overtime, equipment, other trial-related expenses.
Damn! Trial is NOT cheap!
To read more about the jurors time being sequestered, click here.
SOURCE: SeminoleSheriff
